


Jumper Cables

by taylor_tut



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Feels Pain, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Whump, Gavin Reed Redemption, Gen, Pre-Deviant Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Protective Hank Anderson, Whump, but more of a tsundere than a villain, he's still kind of a prick, kind of a little bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-19 23:36:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15521205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_tut/pseuds/taylor_tut
Summary: Just an excuse for me to use my idea for charging Connor with a car battery in an emergency.





	Jumper Cables

Connor trailed behind Hank and Gavin both, finding it difficult to pick up his sluggish legs and make himself keep pace.

“Is this fuckin’ thing always this slow?” Gavin asked Hank, and though Connor knew he should be offended, he found that emotion would require energy that he didn’t have right now, so he ignored him, pretended he hadn’t heard. 

“Connor,” Hank called in a commanding voice that was much more difficult to ignore, “get your ass moving!” 

“Sorry, Lieutenant,” Connor apologized wearily, forcing himself to walk faster at the expense of his coordination. His feet felt clumsy, like he might tangle them together and trip. His charging port had been damaged days earlier, and the part had been backordered, so while it was supposed to arrive tomorrow, he was presently stuck feeling miserable and exhausted, working with maybe ⅕ of the energy that would keep him functioning optimally. 

When Connor offered no further explanation and staggered forward toward the crime scene, Hank felt immediately guilty for berating him. 

“How much charge ya still got left?” he asked, eyeing Connor suspiciously. 

Of all things, he had the nerve to shrug and sigh. “Enough, I think,” he replied. 

Gavin broke into a mean grin. “Can’t believe Cyberlife can make detectives outta fuckin’ plastic but they can’t invent you some coffee,” he said. “Just seems unfair.” 

Gavin was making an effort, Connor realized, to be civil. Likely it was because he’d had his ass kicked one too many times by Hank for his behavior toward Connor, but Connor could dream that maybe he’d found it in his heart to be genuinely patient with him. In any case, he couldn’t waste energy trying to decipher Gavin’s thought processes, so he just leaned a hand against the doorframe to steady himself and took a deep breath.

“I should, uh—analyze evidence?” he stated, partially looking to Hank for confirmation. Instead of a comforting nod from Hank, he was met with a snort from Gavin. 

“No fucking shit,” Gavin agreed unkindly. Hank rolled his eyes. 

“Lay off him, Reed. His charging port’s busted and he’s been up for like four days.” 

Gavin almost winced. Before Connor could begin to look at the crime scene, Hank remembered his most important rule. 

“Hey, don’t fucking lick anything, got it?” he reminded Connor, who didn’t argue the importance and convenience of his portable, real-time analytic processor like he normally would. Instead, he stared at the thirium on the floor, watching it sort of fade from focused to fuzzy in his optical field, and blinked away static. 

They needed the thirium analyzed, but there was a problem. 

“Uh,” Connor began eloquently, “I’m… not sure I can…” 

Hank’s eyebrows furrowed as he heard Connor trail off, but Gavin huffed.

“Why the fuck not?” he asked. “If you can’t do your job, why are you here?”

Connor fumbled for the words to explain that the power it would take to analyze the sample might drain him completely, and he didn’t have an answer to the second question. Why was he being asked so many questions, anyway? 

“I…” he trailed off again, swaying heavily against Hank. 

“Woah,” Hank fretted, “kid, you don’t look so good.” 

Connor shook more static from his head. It was muffling his senses, making Hank’s voice sound distant and distorted, and he couldn’t make out the words. 

“Are you kidding me?” Gavin started, but he shut up when Connor’s unfocused eyes fluttered shut and his knees gave out momentarily, nearly dragging Hank to the floor with him. 

“Fuck!” Hank exclaimed, the first thing Connor had heard clearly in several moments. Anger? Hank was angry. Hank was angry because he wasn’t doing his job and he needed to test the sample. “Connor, what did I say about putting shit in your mouth—Connor?” 

His LED flashed red and then he went limp in Hank’s grip as it flickered out completely. 

“Oh, shit,” Gavin had the decency to mumble, “did we kill him?”

Hank’s blood felt icy in his veins. “Connor!” he shouted, slapping his cheek hard and getting no reaction. “Don’t fucking do this, kid,” he commanded in a shaking voice. Well, fuck. Gavin may have mocked Hank for his drinking habit but he damn well knew what caused it.

“Hank,” Gavin caved, grabbing Connor under one arm, “get him outside. There’s jumper cables in my truck.” 

Hank hoisted Connor up and helped drag his lifeless body to the truck. “You think that’ll work?” he asked. 

“No clue,” Gavin admitted, “but it’s better than nothin’. If we’ve gotta wait for the lab to analyze those samples, it’ll be two weeks before we get it back.” 

They ended up attaching the prongs to Connor’s thirium pump, finding two small wires that looked like they might correlate and clamping the cables to them and the other ends to his car battery. 

Gavin sat behind the wheel of his truck and questioned every decision he’d made that had gotten him here. 

“Ready?” he asked, and Hank nodded, standing clear. 

Gavin started the car and Connor jolted awake, doubled over and groaning in what looked like pain. 

“Connor!” Hank exclaimed, rushing back to his side and dropping to his knees, helping to take the prongs off his thirium pump. 

“Whaddya know,” Gavin drawled, “it fuckin’ worked.” Connor’s hands were grabbing at his chest as he gasped in pain, his eyes darting around the scene with no recognition. 

“Relax, Connor,” Hank instructed, “you’re fine. Your battery died; Gavin jumped it with his truck.”

Connor looked up at Gavin confusedly. 

“Dont’ take it personal,” Gavin muttered, “it’s $35K out of the DPD’s budget every time we’ve gotta replace one of you fuckers.”

Connor nodded. “Thanks anyway,” he said quietly. 

“How do you feel?” Hank asked as he helped Connor sit up of his own volition. 

“Functional enough to finish with the investigation,” he replied vaguely, grimacing as he attempted to stand. “It’s just—” he grunted and gripped his chest, “not like a normal charge. Feels… different.” 

“Do I really need to be here for this?” Gavin asked. “There’s a crime scene I’d like to get back to.”

“Different how?” Hank asked, ignoring Gavin’s request. 

“Like… higher… frequency? Or maybe too much… overcharged? Static?” Hank continued to wait patiently through his explanation. “I think it burns,” he finally decided upon. 

Hank didn’t need to even look at Gavin for him to know what his next move was gonna be. 

“Just go,” Gavin commanded flippantly. 

Hank would have left anyway, but it was nice to have the go-ahead, in any case. 

Connor was quiet through the car ride. 

“Will this charge hold you over til the replacement part comes tomorrow?” Hank asked, sighing in relief when Connor nodded. 

“It appears to be stable,” he replied, his voice still slightly strained with pain. “That was a dangerous move, Lieutenant.”

“It was Gavin’s idea, actually,” Hank admitted. “So you’ll have to be sure to thank your new best friend at work tomorrow. Preferably where everyone can see.”

Connor gave a ghost of a smile. “Noted,” he said.


End file.
